Hemostasis is crucial to the survival of organisms; however, abnormal blood coagulation and abnormal thrombosis can easily result in diseases with a high mortality rate, such as vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, stroke, myocardial infarction, and hypertension. There are many reasons for the formation of an abnormal or excessive thrombus, wherein the most common reasons include, for example, endothelial damage in blood vessels, blood stasis, and excessive blood clotting. Patients who suffer from heart disease, hypertension, high level of blood lipids, diabetes mellitus, or cancer, and people who sit for a long time or do not get enough exercise, are at high risk for thrombus-related diseases.
Currently, the primary approach adopted in clinic for treating thrombus-related diseases is to administer thrombolytic drugs (e.g., tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA)) or anticoagulants (e.g., heparin and warfarin) to the patient. However, the thrombolytic drugs that are currently used put patients at risk of bleeding disorders and cannot lyse a bigger thrombus, and the current anticoagulants cannot reduce the size of a formed thrombus. Therefore, there is a necessity and urgency for continuously developing a drug or a method for inhibiting thrombosis and/or decomposing thrombus effectively without causing side effects.
Researchers have found that thrombosis and thrombolysis are regulated by genes such as NOS3, PLAT, F3, and SERPINE1, wherein (1) an overexpression of the F3 gene and SERPINE1 gene can lead to thrombosis, (2) an increased expression of PLAT gene can promote the decomposition of a formed thrombus, and (3) an increased expression of NOS3 gene can promote vasodilatation and reduce platelet accumulation and thus is helpful for regulating blood pressure and inhibiting thrombosis. Accordingly, one may effectively regulate blood pressure, inhibit thrombosis and/or decompose thrombi by increasing the expression of NOS3 gene, increasing the expression of PLAT gene, decreasing the expression of F3 gene, and/or decreasing the expression of SERPINE1 gene.
Inventors of the present invention found that Chenopodium formosanum extract is effective in regulating the expressions of NOS3, PLAT, F3, and SERPINE1 genes, and thus, can be used for inhibiting thrombosis, decomposing thrombus, assisting in regulation of blood pressure as well as for treating or preventing the diseases associated with the aforementioned genes.